Three Percent Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Three Percent #177: Eight Books Feb 19, 2020

Show notes

After a bit of banter about how baseball front offices might be as bad at naming things as book people, and a plug for Paul Vidich's The Coldest Warrior, Chad and Tom each draft four forthcoming books from a total of eight different presses that they've both agreed to read and discuss in future episodes. How could this possibly go wrong?

Also: On the next episode they'll be discussing Matvei Yankelevich's recent essay, "The New Normal: How We Gave Up the Small Press." It's a long piece that's actually the third installment in a four-part series that he's writing (part one, part two), but can be read on its own in advance of the next podcast. If you have any comments, observations, reflections, criticisms, questions, feel free to email threepercentpodcast@gmail.com or contact Chad or Tom directly.

The eight books discussed in this episode as part of this reading project are:

Waystations of the Deep Night by Marcel Brion, translated from the French by George MacLennan and Edward Gauvin (April)

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd (April)

Slum Virgin by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated from the Spanish by Frances Riddle (June)

An Inventory of Losses by Judith Schalansky, translated from the German by Jackie Smith (June)

You Will Love What You Have Killed by Kevin Lambert, translated from the French by Donald Winkler (July)

The Law of Lines by Hye-young Pyun, translated from the Korean by Sora Kim-Russell (May)

The Silence of the White City by Eva García Sáenz, translated from the Spanish (?) by ???? (July)

The King of Warsaw by Szczepan Twardoch, translated from the Polish by Sean Gasper Bye (April)

This week's music is "Sat By a Tree" by Dan Deacon off the brilliant Mystic Familiar.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Three Percent #176: Dirty Bookshop Feb 04, 2020

Show notes

After a bit of a hiatus, Chad and Tom return to talk about the two biggest things to happen during Winter Institute: The American Dirt controversy and the launch of Bookshop.org. If you haven't been following the American Dirt debacle, here are a couple pieces to read: Laura Miller's piece in Slate, Rebecca Alter's in Vulture, and Ron Charles's from the Washington Post. And here's Chad's Bookshop.org affiliate page in case you want to buy any of the books talked about on this podcast.

Books that are recommended this week include:

The End of the World Might Not Have Taken Place by Patrik Ourednik, translated from the French by Alexander Hertich;

Four by Four by Sara Mesa, translated from the Spanish by Katie Whittemore;

On Time and Water by Andri Snær Magnason, translated from the Icelandic by Lytton Smith; and,

Grabeland by eteam

This week's music is "Wicked Witches" by Kiwi Jr.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

Three Percent #175: Biggest News Stories of 2019 Jan 07, 2020

Show notes

On this week's episode, Chad and Tom discuss Tom's recent piece on J ean-Patrick Manchette for LARB and talk about which of his books are best to start with, and why there haven't been more breakout international noir authors. Then they pivot to this Publishers Weekly article on the "Top News Stories of 2019," discussing the impact of each of the ten. They finish with a joint plug for Dead Fashion Girl, which is fascinating and unsettling all at once.

This episode's music is "All My Happiness Is Gone" by Purple Mountains.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

TMR 10.14: "We Made it to the End" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Jan 06, 2020

Show notes

We did it! Chad and Brian reflect on the somewhat surprising ending to Ducks, Newburyport and reflect on all 1,000+ of its glorious pages in the season finale to this Two Month Review. They debate whether the book is hopeful or pessimistic, the way in which its solipsism infects the reader's way of seeing the world, and they take one last shot at anti-mom nut job, Dr. Phil.

This week's music is "Let's Never Leave Here" by Death and Vanilla

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

We'll be back in February with the next season: The Dreamed Part by Rodrigo Fresán!

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. Also follow Elizabeth DeMeo on Twitter and at her website.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 10.13: "Dogs" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Dec 26, 2019

Show notes

Elizabeth DeMeo (assistant book editor at Tin House) joins Chad and Brian in the penultimate episode of this season of the Two Month Review. They talk family therapy. They talk about the Jim's encounter with the lioness. They make predictions about how the book will end. They debate whether it's better to read the book in a few days or a few months. They manage to make it through with a minimal amount of coughing, and only a few wacky digressions.

This week's music is "Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)" by Bombay Bicycle Club.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Monday's episode (the last!) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. Also follow Elizabeth DeMeo on Twitter and at her website.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 10.12: "Gone Missing" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Dec 23, 2019

Show notes

Chad and Brian go it alone on pages 777-862, talking about Galley Beggar's "go fund me" campaign, hardcovers vs. paperbacks, Stacy, what makes something Kafkaesque, the narrator's stasis, and much more.

This week's music is "The Surprise Knock" by The New Pornographers.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Monday's episode (up to page 917) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 10.11: "Establish Justice" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Dec 16, 2019

Show notes

This week, Chad is joined by Rebecca Hussey (BookRiot) and Josh Cook (Porter Square Books, An Exaggerated Murder) to talk about pages 700-776 of Ducks, Newburyport. They make comparisons to any number of modernist authors (Proust, Woolf, Joyce), discuss mother-daughter relationships, "mom shaming," Stace's general sense of rebellion, whether or not the "stories" are getting longer as we move through the book, how it actually has a conventional plot, and how Chad thinks someone needs to put together a book of essays about this novel featuring pieces by booksellers, authors, academics, critics, and moms.

This week's music is "4ÆM" by Grimes.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Wednesday's episode (up to page 862) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. Also, read all of Rebecca's BookRiot posts and follow her on Twitter, and buy Josh's book from Porter Square (and f ollow him as well).

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 10.10: "A List of Definites" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Dec 13, 2019

Show notes

Jeremy Kitchen (Chicago Public Library, Eye 94) joins Chad and Brian to talk about "a list of definites" about the future, the (pretty silly) controversy surrounding Lucy Ellmann's recent Guardian interview, the way the themes of Duck, Newburyport make it difficult for some people to read, the ways in which this novel is subversive, and much more.

This week's music is "Never Been Wrong" by Waxahatchee.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week's episode (up to page 776) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #174: Devil's Bargains Dec 10, 2019

Show notes

Chad and Tom play a short game on this podcast—when Tom isn't ranting about Amazon. They also discuss Bookshop, when the decade officially ends, favorite translations of the past ten years, Chad's upcoming hiatus from writing for Three Percent, and much more.

Next episode Chad and Tom will discuss Tom's recent article on Jean-Patrick Manchette.

This week's music is "Smash Yr Radio" by Nobody.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

TMR 10.9: "Pattern Recognition" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Nov 28, 2019

Show notes

Chad and Brian deliver a true Thanksgiving treat in this episode, digging in deep to the narrative patterns in the book, the way Ellmann constructs the narrator's subjectivity, how the novel is a radical call to action, how some facts aren't really facts, terrible new slang terms, save the turtles, and much much more. This is maybe the most critical episode of the season in terms of understanding exactly why reading slowly in this fashion can be so rewarding.

This week's music is "Waving Past Nirvana" by WIVES.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week's episode (up to page 700) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

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